I haven't been much of a fan of hyde's until I went to Japan. Perhaps it is my urban self that has been so restrained by this rathole named Singapore. Across Japan in the railway I went, listening to hyde's Angel's Tale (which I bought off the shelf in Japan... along with some things), and looking at the scenery. Suddenly I realised that there are indeed angels... In Japan.

  At least in places where the temperature can change from 30 to 0 degrees in 365 days-- temperate countries, that is. Definitely not in the tropics or the desert. It must be Death's palace in these places, I'm sure of it.

  Okay, I'm nowhere near the middle class in terms of monetary standards, so I can't spare much money. If anyone has been consistently reading my diary entries they should know how much I bitch about it, mainly because I can't bitch about it to anyone IRL. So, I couldn't decide whether to purchase Roentgen back in Singapore. Yet when I heard it at HMV, I immediately picked up the CD and bought it. It didn't sound that interesting at first, but now I'm hooked, after listening to it looped at least a thousand and one times on the bus trips to school.

  I adore this album. If anything, I like it more than any album by L'Arc~en~Ciel, mainly because I have misplaced Dune at the present moment and can't say for it. Dune feeds my masochistic aspect, given that nowadays I'm thoroughly masochistic and totally in need of an abuser, yadda yadda, but this album seems to be... beautiful.

  From the rural aspect (My junior college seems to be pretty near rural as far as you get in Singapore, what with the "urbanisation" going on), the songs played in Roentgen are beautiful. It seems to be much connected to the Romantic theory of connecting the scenery with the soul, and from certain songs, it does indeed seem to be so. In fact, this whole album seems very Romantic, what with the supernatural storms found in Coleridge's Ancient Mariner. Except hyde'd lose out in the metaphors and similes and he seems to have less poetic imagination in his lyrics-- his lyrics seem more personal, less metaphorical, and uses a bit of the Wordsworth style in the sense that he uses colloqial terms to communicate with the listener.

  Think snow, mountains, sea, lots of greenery. You get the idea. That kind of strikes as Angel's Tale and Evergreen. Angel's Tale is too tied in with religion, which is dumb; it shows too much of westernisation and hence i find it cliched. But the tune seems to be in touch with the scenery more than the lyrics are. Also, Evergreen is chosen to be in Japanese because of the idea that it'll leave a deeper impression. Which is why I couldn't really see the beauty of it until I've been to Japan (the only temperate place I've ever been to).

  Other songs suggest better religious aspects. Then sixth track and the Cape of Storms are very interesting, in terms of the "truth" and seem to be tied in with the Dark side. In track six (I can't remember the title!), it is even more prominent, in the sense that it explores it in an almost Dr Jerkyll and Mr Hyde way. It questions truth, and renounces understanding. However, what it lacks is a thorough explanation of the "truth", and on the whole it is too narrow in terms of "truth", as in the lyrics are written in a way that doesn't depict "truth" as more things. Both songs do bring about a sense of repression often present in Gothic writings and paintings.

  More personal songs are A Drop of Colour and Secret Letters. Somehow I feel that these two songs are trying to relate hyde's feelings more than anything. Sometimes I wonder who the hell is Secret Letters written to. It doesn't seem to be the same person that he wrote "Unexpected" to-- somehow. Because if one looks at the jacket, he would see the x-ray of his hand with a circle drawn around his wedding finger. It must have represented the "promises woven". However, given that this song ends with such traumatising songs (ie: Cape of Storms and Secret Letters), this album seems to be an insight to his inner self rather than the external happiness.

  Also, what baffles me is that Secret Letters is sung in a really beautiful voice compared to the rest. It isn't just rich, it stretches the voice from here to there on the scale. It seems like the entire soul has been poured into this song (mainly because it cannot be poured anywhere else), and thus, it makes me wonder who he wrote it for. 

  Personally, I think it's written for Tetsu, although another part of me wants to say it's been written for Sakura, because of the high bits. One thing is for sure; it is not written for Megumi (whose name I abhor to speak of, though I hate her less now, because if I were a guy I would like her too), because the first song is already for her. This album relates from the present to the past. Also, I find that Hyde, despite being manly, seems to have had an indentity crisis all along. If he was wont to be a girl in his body as a schizophrenic (as many people are), then it must have been Sakura. Of course, Tetsu had his identity crisis since high school, until 1997... mouwahahahha. erm, that's not funny. Yet Secret Letters seems to be of this androgynous quality that it would definitely charm the current Tetsu (and describe the former Tetsu), who has evolved into a stranger and stupider creation than before (I feel).

  So... Yeah. Whatever it is, I don't think he's very straight, mainly because ... gut feeling.

  Another interesting thing is, the song "anemone" was reported to be a sort of flower, which after due research has been proven to be pastel colours or white (pastel generally meaning the kind of red or purple that Tetsu wore in his 1995-6 days). Since white is not associated with anything, and the androgyny that this song portrays is likened to Tetsu, I hence deduct that both Roentgen's Secret letters and "anemone" were both written for Tetsu.

  I don't claim to know, but it is indeed an interesting thought.

  Another interesting thing is that Roentgen is the name of the scientist who discovered X ray and decided not to patent it for the sake of the majority. I think (if I remember correctly) he died of cancer (don't they all?). I wonder why he named it Roentgen instead of X-ray, but simply decided that he wanted it to sound cooler.

  .... Oooh, I went for my backbone X-ray! It's really interesting. I got the film from the hospital.... The only good thing about having a mutant spine is the X Ray. You get to die sooner.

  Of course, in terms of image, I think he's ugly, but that's another matter altogether. The most attractive person right now to me is... Darren Hayes! No, I'm not kidding. In terms of androgyny Darren Hayes would win hyde hands down. hyde's only androgynous because he's short, but Darren Hayes has got this aura that hyde can't beat... yep.